RBMS 2019 Conference

As repositories of material culture, libraries and archives document environmental history both intentionally and serendipitously. By taking a closer look at special collections from the New York Public Library and the University of California at Santa Cruz, presenters will address the research potential of collections for telling the story of human influence on the planet.The first presenter will focus on New York's natural environment, as described in over 350 years of early printed works, specimen books, and contemporary artists' books.  The second will explore the history of urban environmental activism through the archival records of citizens and organizations fighting to preserve New York City’s fragile ecosystem. The final presenter will discuss the 1956-57 partnership of photographers Dorothea Lange and Pirkle Jones to document the death of a small thriving agricultural town in California for the sake of a federal water project, as told through the photography project’s archive and related records.  A throughline of practical patron concerns and outreach will connect the three talks, which combined will foster an introspective look at localized collections and how they can connect to their natural and researcher ecosystems.